Early Tuesday, IDG World Expo released a statement noting that the venerable Apple-oriented trade show, Macworld/iWorld would go on hiatus and not be held in 2015 as planned. The contents of that statement are:
“We are announcing today that Macworld/iWorld is going on hiatus, and will not be taking place as planned in 2015. Our MacIT event, the world’s premiere event for deploying Apple in the enterprise, will continue next year with details to be announced in the coming weeks.
Just as with the magazine, the loss of Macworld Expo is a huge blow to the community. I have very little hope that the “hiatus” will ever end. It’s weird, as Macworld Expo started in 1985. It’s been a part of the Mac community as long as there’s been one. In fact, Breen has another article looking back at the event that you should check out as well.
When Apple pulled out of Macworld in 2009, many predicted it would be the end of the show. I attended in 2012, despite making fun of the new name, and in many ways, it was the start of my “career” in this space. I made countless friends there; people I still talk to on a regular basis, but now just see at WWDC each summer.
The truth is that the community around Apple has changed as the company has grown. There are still lots of good things about it, but the small-town feel is gone. While I’m really too young to have experienced that much first-hand, I think we’re all worse off as it slips further away.